A popular Toronto backyard patio won't be opening this season as the rest of the city gets excited to hit up outdoor dining areas as soon as it's allowed.

Madame Boeuf (and Flea, which had pivoted to "and Bottle") has operated as a pop-up patio serving burgers in the summers, which proprietor Anthony Rose (Fet Zun, Fat Pasha) describes as an "outdoor funhouse" with bocce and flowing frosé.

The patio located at what is now Fet Zun has been known for its menu of banquet burgers and cheese fries served up with lots of fun summer drinks and a side of activities, like a flea market.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Madame Boeuf and Bottle (@madameboeufandbottle)

Rose recently made an announcement that the patio playground would not be reopening this year on the Madame Boeuf Instagram.

While the post states that "due to powers out of our control we cannot safely provide the atmosphere to which we would like to operate our Outdoor BBQ Playground," not reopening for this season is more of a judgement call. 

When it comes to tispy folks running around playing bocce, Rose tells blogTO he "just felt this year we can't control that. We're still very conscious of COVID in general."

At Rose's restaurants Fet Zun, Fat Pasha and Big Crow (which is back open in place of now-closed Grand Elvis), people are typically just sitting in one place, whereas with Madame Boeuf, he says he doesn't feel comfortable trying to control an atmosphere that was supposed to be zany and chaotically fun by nature.

He is definitely open to the possibility of the burger-based patio coming back at some point. For now, the space that would normally be used for Madame Boeuf is going to play host to an expanded Fet Zun patio, branded as Camp Fet Zun over the winter with tents and open fires.